Every month we put an U2 fan in the spotlights, the fan of the month July 2009 is user tannbill. You may know him better as M!les, who taped both Paris shows from the 360 tour. That's also why we asked him some stuff on taping shows, why does he do it? Does he have any tips? Read along for the answers.
Tell us something about yourself, who are you and what do you do for a living?
I am 36, single, and I live in Paris, France. I am currently a translator, English and sometimes German, to French. I specialize in international business & trade.
How did you become a fan of U2, tell us how it happened?
My girl cousin, who is 10 years older than me, gave me her cassette tapes of "Boy" and "Under A Blood Red Sky", in early 1987. Around the same time, "The Joshua Tree" got released. I was listening to FM radio the very night the album came out. They'd sent 2 reporters to London, England, where record stores like HMV and Virgin had opened especially at midnight for the album release. People in very large numbers were impatient to buy it, they would not wait until the next morning! The radio reporters just wanted to show the kind of positive chaos the album release had created. I heard later that the album sold an extraordinary amount of 300,000 copies in the UK alone, just within 24 hours. Unreal! That was a world record. U2 still hold it to this day, by the way. The radio guys bought the album, went back to their hotel, where they had installed their bradcasting equipment. And then they proceeded to air almost the entire album!! It was a good 6 or 7 songs at least, they played it for probably 40 minutes or so, I remember this because I was taping this (already!) on my cassette deck and I was checking the C-90 cassette constantly lol. When "With Or Without You" started to play, it was like "boom!" in my head, the ambient, atmospheric sound, that unbelievable bass line (I didn't realize at the time that it would later be recognized as both innovative and influential). So I guess you can say that's when I became a fan, I was hooked.
If you could go back in time, which U2-era would you like to be in, and why?
Definitely LoveTown Tour, late 1989, because I wanted to see the shows and unfortunately couldn't attend them. That tour was a gem, when I listen to it again & again after all these years, I still consider it the best U2 tour of the Eighties. It has everything U2 and their music were about in those days. On some shows, as an opener, it has the one U2 song I'm dying to hear, because it means an awful lot to me: "Hawkmoon 269". In a certain way, it is a very comprehensive tour, so to speak.
You seem to have taped some U2 shows, Paris lately for example. Why do you want to record U2 shows?
Because taping is fun! I've always been a huge collector of live recordings of my favorite artists. Since 1990 actually. One day I decided to cross the line and start paying my dues lol. This was in 2004. Better late than never! So I bought a MiniDisc recorder, the MZ-N707 from Sony, and the ECM-719 stereo electret microphone also from Sony. I still use the same mic to this day. As I've always been a huge fan of jazz, I started recording many jazz concerts in small clubs in Paris. That's how I began to learn about taping. Then, in 2005, U2 came back on the road with the Vertigo Tour. At first I was skeptical at my ability to get a good, decent-sounding recording from a stadium show. Especially since I love to participate in the show, i.e. I like to be in the pitch, I don't like to be seated. So I decided to attend the shows without recording them, simply enjoying myself, and the music. However the shows were so good - especially the one in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, June 12th, 2005 - that when they were finished I was desperate to listen to them all over again, at once! And when I say "at once", I really do mean "at once"! lol That's when it really dawned on me that maybe I should record every U2 show I attended, eventually. Just for the sheer delight of listening to it again during the night, after the show. The fact that I share these recordings with friends and fellow fans is incidental to that.
Do you tape shows of more musicians? Any secrets about taping you want to share? Can you tell us something more on the process that goes along with taping a show from start to end?
As you can imagine, yes, I tape shows of many more musicians. I love all kinds of music, I deeply believe that one shall not restrict one's tastes to just one artist/band/genre etc. So my musical diet, so to speak, consists of lots of rock, pop, soul, jazz, rap, electro, blues, reggae, affro, classical, opera etc. you name it. I love all of them equally, and all of them are important to me. However, there is one genre that I cherish above others, I must confess, and that's funk. Yes, fellas, I'm a funkateer lol and above all, I'm a huuuuge Prince fan, too. By the way, I just came back from Montreux, Switzerland, where Prince played two shows to conclude the 43rd Jazz Festival, and of course I recorded them too ;-)
Secrets about taping? Rule #1: who dares wins! Most people are afraid of doing it simply because they might get caught, because it's forbidden, because they're afraid that audience members near them might look at them in a bad way etc. Well, that's a load of bollocks! I never had to hide myself. Of course, recording live shows by yourself with the intent to sell them is not just illegal, it's bad for your karma too. But otherwise you're not harming anyone so just go along with it and do it :-) As I said earlier, taping is fun, and it should always remain so. Also keep in mind that in every concert situation, your fellow audience members are exclusively interested in what's happening on stage, so they won't spy on you and report you to the security guys. Who, in turn, already have a lot to be busy with : fainting girls, drunken people, fights, all kinds of disorder etc. So, in short, before taping a show, just be cool and relaxed, there's no need to worry. If you feel nervous, out of anxiety or enthusiasm, have a beer and smile, talk to the people around you, that's all.
Rule #2: remember you're at a live concert, not some state-of-the-art recording studio. The band plays loud, the PA might not always be top-notch. People sing and scream. In short, shit happens. You're not there to record a show just for your own, selfish enjoyment. People have got a right to sing and dance, and likewise you must enjoy yourself too. As a taper, you ain't got no right to forbid your fellow audience members anything. If they're too loud, change location. Over the years, I developed a technique of singing/yelling with my stomach, not my lungs. So now I can enjoy both taping & attending the show, without the fear of ruining my recording. Sometimes people around look at me with astonishment, because they clearly see the muscles on my face moving and so, but no sound comes from my mouth lol. Forget about perfection: a live show, especially in a stadium, is no perfect setting for a recording, and if you're going there with the obsession of making a perfect recording, you'll put too much pressure on yourself and 9 times out of 10 you'll end up with a crap recording, simply because the end result will sound much inferior to the ideal recording you intended to make in the first place. So, again, be cool. And remember: you're not the only one, there are many tapers like you in the venue, and some of them will come up with a better tape than yours, and most likely their recording will also circulate, so just relax.
Rule #3: don't do it if you don't feel like it. There were occasions when I didn't want to bother myself with recording, so I just went to the show with no recorder in hand, e.g. the last 2 Springsteen tours. That's not a problem. There are more important things in life. But again, if you want to record the show, then you've got to be at the top of your game. In short, there are details you can't mess with. You've got to be on top technically. Double-check your equipment. Did you load the battery inside the recorder, the night before the concert? Running out of juice in the middle of the show is a shameful and frustrating experience, which I never want to have to go through. Did you format the memory card inside the recorder? Did you check the state of the microphone's battery? Or is the phantom power of your recorder good enough to sustain 2 or maybe 3 hours of recording? Mics may be small these days, but so are recorders, and you've got to be sure that your recording device will have enough power from start to finish. If there is an opening act, use it as a means of double-checking everything, and start adjusting your levels. When the headliner comes on stage, there will be too much turmoil/excitement around you and you probably won't be able to adjust your levels the exact way you want them to be. Don't record at excessively high levels, otherwise your recording might sound distorted. With today's digital editing software, you will always be able to increase the dynamics of your recording once you're back home. Also keep in mind that during most concerts these days, the engineer in charge of the PA mix will inevitably increase the in-house levels during the first three numbers or so, especially in a stadium, for a simple reason (amongst many others): during soundcheck the venue is empty, but once it's filled with screaming people the PA mix doesn't sound the same so you have to boost levels, or else the band might sound weaker than the audience. It's a bit exaggerated of course but you get the picture.
What would you like to ask U2 if you got the chance to?
To go on the road with them and record all their shows professionnally for fan-release, just like artists such as Depeche Mode and Metallica do. Peter Gabriel and Pearl Jam also did that.
Where do you most prefer to listen to U2?
Under the shower! lol
No, seriously, it has to be late at night, lying on the bed, with the headphones on.
When you're forced to leave to a deserted island and you can take only one U2 album with you, which would it be?
Without one second of hesitation: "The Unforgettable Fire".
What are your hobbies and interests away from U2, musical or otherwise?
Music is my passion. As David Bowie once said, it's my vehicle in life, sort of.
As I said earlier, I'm a huge Prince fan, probably even more than U2, although I hate to compare, simply because there is no need to compare, I believe. All these artists have more similarities than differences. I would probably surprise a lot of people if I said that after listening like crazy to both Prince and U2 for over 22 years, I came to the conclusion that the reason why I love them so (they're like the yin and the yang to me) is because they have a lot in common, soul-wise. Of course one has to dig a little bit under the surface... ;-)
I'm equal parts pop and rock, soul and funk, jazz and blues etc. I have followed many, many artists, living or gone, over the years, I'm quite insatiable actually. To name but a very few: David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, The Cure, Peter Gabriel, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Santana, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Björk, James Brown, Sly Stone, Parliament-Funkadelic, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa, Fela, John Coltrane etc. The list is endless, there are too many to name, in fact. I like to have a taste out of everything. As U2 said, too much is not enough!
Outside of music, which eats up roughly 90% of my time and energy, I also have interests in cinema and literature.
My main subject of interest outside of the arts is history, I nearly always read two different books simultaneously, I specialize in the 1930-1940s, essentially.
Finally, I love technical stuff, sound-related mostly, and computers also of course.
I love everything that's related to sound recording, in a studio or on a stage, microphones, mixing boards etc. you name them, I always keep an eye on them.
It's music that got me to computers, mostly because of sound editing and tape collecting. The Internet is such an easy, accessible tool for collecting live recordings!
Sometimes I miss the older days when one had to be really smart and resilient to find the good people at the good places ;-) Things have become almost too easy these days!
Thanks for this interview tannbill!
Note: Our crew members randomly pick fans of the month, you can't sign up for it
Nice interview, although this part was a little scary.
Over the years, I developed a technique of singing/yelling with my stomach, not my lungs. So now I can enjoy both taping & attending the show, without the fear of ruining my recording. Sometimes people around look at me with astonishment, because they clearly see the muscles on my face moving and so, but no sound comes from my mouth lol.
